Car washer



' 6, 1951 Q D.' KEELY A 2,543,975

l CAR WASHER Filed Een'. 9. 1949 Y A ----...-----..-A l '11111111111111111141 Patented Mar. 6, 1 951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAR WASHER essere n. Keely, West Engiewood, N. if.

Application February 9, 1949, Serial No. '75,325

My present invention relates to improvements in car washers.` Its object is to improve existing types of car washers to the end that the cost of same may be reduced and their efficiency improved. A more vspecific object is to provide a car washer consisting of a wiping or cleaning element, and a relatively long, rigid, hollow handle therefor provided at its near end with a hose connection, such handle having a bend adjacent the wiping device of approximately to 10 such as to bring the center portion of the wiping device closer in line with the main axis of the handle whereby to reduce the turning moment of the wiping device which, being wet, would otherwise exert an appreciable moment.

Other objects of my invention and the advantages thereof will be apparent from the description which follows and the features of novelty will be pointed out in the appended claims. For better understanding of my invention reference may now be had to the following detailed description taken with the annexed drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an automobile and showing my improved device in use;

Fig. 2 is a view in vertical elevation of said washer with hose attached;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view partly in section taken vertically of Fig. 2 and showing the construction of the brushing or wiping device;

Fig. 4 is a View showing a helical spring disposed within the handle of the car washer preparatory to being inserted in the hose to thereby facilitate shipping of the car washer;

Fig. 5 is a view in vertical section showing the hose connected to the handle and the anti-kinking device extending into the hose;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. I shows a detail of the mop and attaching nipple and the manner of the attachment.

In the drawing, I denotes the hollow handle of the device, the far end thereof havingI a right angled joint, such as, for example, is provided by an elbow 2 which is secured to handle I in any appropriate manner, as by soldering, welding, press or shrink fitting, etc. Elbow 2 (Fig. 3) has an expanded terminal portion 2a providing a shoulder 2b for attachment to a fitting or nipple 3, the latter being inserted in the head 4 of a mop 4a, and being secured therein by virtue of corrugations 4b. Nipple 3 has a threaded expanded head portion 4c, such as to provide an internal shoulder 4d to accommodate a washer 5. It will be seen that the expanded portion 4c of 2 iClaims. (Cl. 15-12S) the fitting engages over the expanded portion 2El of the elbow, the end of which is brought against the Washer 5. It then remains to have a lock ring 6 which engages the threaded expanded portion 4C so that when screwed home the internal flangeia carried by the lock ring engages the shoulder 2b of the elbow and causes the end of the portion 2a to be engaged firmly against the washer 5. One advantage of this arrangement is that as the lockring 6 is screwed home there is little or no turning movement exerted upon the fitting 3 whereby the mop is easily secured to the handle without having the fitting 4b turn within the head 4 of the mop. The preferred manner of attachment is as follows:

A wire or cord 4f is passed diametrically through folds of the mop as seen in Fig. 7 with the mop strands pointing in the opposite direction from that of use and through diametrically opposite holes IIe in the nipple 3, the ends of the wire being tightened into a twist 4g. Then the strands of the mop are folded back over the wire 4f, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7, to assume its customary position, and a second Wire or cord 4h is secured therearound and the ends also brought into a twist as shown.

As above mentioned, the handle I has therein a bend A which brings the mop 4a closer to the main axis of the handle I to reduce the turning thereof, such bend preferably being from `5" to 10 more or less.

The near end of the handle I is provided with a coupling I0 secured thereto, as by soldering or otherwise, as mentioned in respect to the attachment to the handle I of theelbow 2, coupling I0 having the usual internal threads II for attachment to the threaded end I2 of hose I3. For the purpose of keeping the adjacent end of the hose from knking, the helical spring I5 is provided preferably with and attached to the car washer as furnished the customer. In this assembly, shown in Fig. 4, the spring I5 which may be provided with an enlarged terminal turn I6, is held within the handle I by means of a disc I'I, preferably of cardboard sprung into place. When the washer is received by the customer the spring I5 is removed from handle I and placed in the hose I3 as shown in Fig. 5.

For facilitating the use of the device a permanent grip I8 is preferably provided which may form a non-movable grip for one hand whereas a second grip I9 may be provided which is slidable along the handle I, the use of the two grips being illustrated in Fig. 1. The hand grips I8, I8 may preferably be of rubber and serve the definite purpose of keeping the hands olf the metal tube which becomes annoyingly cold due to the cold water passing therethrough. Slidable grip I9 thus permits different working hand positions to be assumed as the washer reaches to different parts of the car.

In use the near end of the handle I is connected to the hose I3 with the spring I5 inserted in the end of said hose as already explained, and the volume of water is regulated by means not shown. The spring I prevents the hose from bending sharply in certain Working positions. In thus preventing the hose from collapsing or kinking it adds to its life while insuring against stoppage of the flow of water while the washer is in use.

Various changes may be made in the construction shown without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims. For example other wiping devices, as for example a brush, may be used in lieu of the mop IIa but better results have been had by the use of the mop.

I claim:

1. In a car washer the combination of a hollow handle and a wiping device together with devices for removably securing said handle to said wiping device which comprise a hollow element xedly secured to the handle and having an enlarged cylindrical terminal portion affording a shoulder at the beginning of said portion, a nipple secured to the wiping device and provided with an enlarged threaded terminal portion and accommodating a washer at the beginning thereof, and a lock ring engaging said shoulder of said 4 hollow element and said enlarged threaded portion of said nipple whereby when screwed home said lock ring binds said hollow element against said washer.

2. In a car washer, a hollow handle having at the far end thereof a mop composed of strands whereby washing water fed from said handle passes through said mop, and means for attaching the mop to the handle comprising a nipple attached to the handle and passing into the mop, strands of said mop having a course parallel to said nipple and in a direction away from the far end of the mop, a wire passing through an aperture of said nipple at substantially right angles to the axis thereof, said wire making a turn around the strands of the said course at right angles to said strands and binding same against the nipple, said strands being turned at approximately around said wire turn and being held in place by a securing band around the outer periphery thereof.

CLIFFORD D. KEELY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Penick Apr. 3, 1945 

